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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24702682">Cross-Contamination</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arowen12/pseuds/Arowen12'>Arowen12</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mechanisms (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, Cultural Differences, Gen, Traditions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:56:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,670</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24702682</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arowen12/pseuds/Arowen12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They’ve all forgotten, for the most part, the mind isn’t made to hold that much memory and time slips like fine grains of sand between the cracks. When Ivy first starts Archiving the Mechanisms she is often frustrated, what little they remember of their own pasts is relegated to songs with half-truths or the little bits of culture and tradition they still hold.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>154</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cross-Contamination</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey, y'all I'm here with a Mechs fic. I couldn't get the idea out of my head about how they all have different origins/cultures. This was also kind of just an excuse to write the Mechs. Read on and enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Over hundreds of thousands of years, you forget about where you came from, the exact way your home was structured, the way your mother smiled just the slightest twist of her lips in the corners. Sometimes you forget on purpose, you burn what you once loved to the ground, or maybe you burned it because you hated it, or just a strange mix of both.</p>
<p>They’ve all forgotten for the most part, the mind isn’t made to hold that much memory and time slips like fine grains of sand between the cracks. When Ivy first starts Archiving the Mechanisms she is often frustrated, what little they remember of their own pasts is relegated to songs with half-truths or the little bits of culture and tradition they still hold.</p>
<p>When they were new, not-dead, and alive for the given value of it, Nastya and Jonny would curl together in the hold, in the ducts, wherever they might find sanctuary however temporary from Dr. Carmilla.</p>
<p>Nastya was a princess, she carries a certain sort of dignity with her, the way she tilts her head when speaking to a group of people, the almost diplomatic way she can negotiate with an anyone, though she prefers to let Jonny do the talking more often than not. Every piece of technology receives a soft touch and an even softer word of thanks when the world you come from is so entangled with technology, it isn’t just technology anymore.</p>
<p>On late nights, when they’re still shuddering through the last remnants of whatever experiment Dr. Carmilla found suitable they’ll stand together in the kitchen, just Jonny and Nastya side by side watching the kettle boil water. Nastya, one hand resting warm on the Aurora’s panels will tell Jonny that the servants used to make this drink for her, she laughs, a faint barely there huff in fear that it might be heard, and says it was perfect every time; she hasn’t been able to get it right since she left home.</p>
<p>The drink is warm and Jonny will take a long slow sip and feel it burn all the way down, the faintest taste of something bitter, something heavy softened by the dash of honey Nastya stirs into the drink. She drinks it without honey and like a shot.</p>
<p>Jonny doesn’t speak about his home, oh he’ll sing about it, late at night into the tangles of Nastya’s hair threaded with cobwebs from when she was climbing through the vents again. Sing about the bars and gin joints on New Texas, about the constant taste of dust on your tongue no matter where you went, the scorching suns, and the way the horizon shimmered like a glimmering curtain. Jonny doesn’t talk about how he leaves his shoes at the door to his room or when he visits Nastya’s, doesn’t mention why he tosses salt over his shoulder when it spills, or why he makes a cross over his lips when they see things, unspeakable things.</p>
<p>He does show Nastya how to do a simple stitch and when she asks, he’ll patch her jacket without complaining, a rare thing from Jonny when it comes to sewing. He’ll laugh when Nastya lingers by the doorway and say it’s the only useful thing his mom ever taught him, that and how to make a mean cornbread; Jonny doesn’t bake anymore, isn’t allowed in the kitchen after the incident with the oven.</p>
<p>They were two and then they become three.</p>
<p>Ashes doesn’t bring anything from Malone, just the scent of something burnt, and a lighter they’ll flick when they’re nervous. Still, they make a mean drink, they call it a Salamander, and Jonny doesn’t stop cackling for an hour when they light it on fire. Ashes might not have brought anything material from Malone, but they do bring the gesture from their chest in thanks, and once a week they burn a portion of their food.</p>
<p>Nastya shares her drink with Ashes late or early in the kitchen as Jonny lies dead on the floor, he put the bullet through his skull himself and though death is no longer a stranger it sits uncomfortably with both of them. Ashes sips the drink and asks after the name, Jonny never asked, it’s Pryanyi Chai Nastya says with a shrug and only smiles sadly when Ashes adds more honey.</p>
<p>Neither of them mentions the airlock but they both are thinking of it as Jonny jerks to life and Nastya hands him a cup. They all don’t mention the tears that slip into the dark liquid, if asked Jonny would only blame it on allergies, in space; a very common affliction on the Aurora.</p>
<p>Brian hardly says anything on the subject of the planet from whence he came, there’s nothing left, not from the cold of space, and not after the Doctor strips everything but his heart away. Sometimes, Brian can’t help but wonder if he really did look like this before, or if that’s just what the Doctor wanted him to believe.</p>
<p>The only inkling any of them ever get about Brian’s past is when they’re planetside, one sprawling with markets, huts, a swampy sort of planet that made Ashes itch and Nastya retreat to the Aurora and its climate-controlled system. They’re in one such market when Brian picks out a piece of jewellery, beads, carved of wood, it looks old or new, hard to tell, but Jonny doesn’t say anything as Brian tucks it in his bag.</p>
<p>Sometimes Brian helps the Doctor, they don’t say anything, none of them do, not with the allergies so abundant, but afterwards, lying in that room cold and sterilized Brian will mutter about proper bedside manners and will rest his fingers gently over their pulse. He doesn’t do it to Jonny, not after he thrashes and cries out, instead, Brian rests Jonny’s hand against his chest, where his heart beats beneath the polished metal.</p>
<p>Tim is the last straw.</p>
<p>They’ve been ‘programmed’ as best as Brian will describe it, a good old kill switch if they ever tried to go after Carmilla, but well accidents do happen. It’s terribly unfortunate that day Jonny leaves his shoes right at the door to the airlock, and of course, it’s early or late and they’re in the kitchen, so no one is there when it happens; which of course means no one did it.</p>
<p>Brian and Nastya spend hours in the labs and when they’re done Tim has eyes and dark sprawling lines trailing from them as he blinks and looks at them. Jonny recognises that anger, recognises what hides beneath it and places a gun in Tim’s hands, laughs as he shoots him.</p>
<p>Afterwards, Tim makes tea, he does that a lot, a habitual motion anytime he’s in the canteen he’ll make tea, sometimes just for himself, but more often for everyone. It’s not particularly good tea, but it’s not horrible and they drink it all the same. In the midst of battle, Tim will be missing an arm and a leg and tell everyone he’s fine even as he’s bleeding out, for the most part, it’s true.</p>
<p>Nastya and Tim trade recipes, late at night over plates of biscuits, or cookies, depends on who you’re asking, they’ll sip at their tea or their Pryanyi Chai. When Ashes sets their eyes on a world, or a building, or empire that’s going to burn, Tim is there beside them handing them the C4 or the match, Ashes laughs and Tim laughs with them.</p>
<p>In the middle of a war, there’s sometimes gas attacks, sometimes radiation, Jonny always watches Tim during these wars and he passes a gas mask, or a respirator, or a led sheet to Tim before he can say anything. They don’t speak of it, just blame it on the allergies if Brian catches sight of them leaning against each other in the barracks singing old songs while Jonny stitches Tim’s uniform.</p>
<p>They can’t say when the Toy Soldier appears, one moment they’re docked in a central spaceport somewhere near the Doyle cluster and the next the Toy Soldier is there with a cheery smile passing Tim a cup of tea in what constitutes as the afternoon. The Toy Soldier is obnoxiously English at times, Tim complains about this frequently but never complains about the cups of tea and no one mentions the faint smile the Toy Soldier’s accent might bring on occasion; they all get a bit homesick.</p>
<p>Can a Toy Solider have a culture or a tradition? It thinks it can, it is the act of polishing the buttons on whichever uniform it has dawned in whatever war, it is patching the holes because a soldier must always present themselves properly, it is learning each salute, the one over its head, the bow from the waist, that one planet in which it coughed into its elbow to salute which it found rather weird.</p>
<p>Nastya always helps the Toy Soldier touch up its paint, a soldier must look its best, and though it doesn’t really need to eat or taste things, it can pretend, so it pretends to enjoy Nastya’s tea. It does not have a pulse for Brian to feel, but it pretends to breathe or will sing and let Brian feel the vibration humming through the wood. It is scared of Ashes sometimes because Ashes loves fire and the Toy Soldier, being mostly wood, is rather averse to the whole experience, but it will still drink Ashes’ flaming drinks because the others are doing it too, and it is so very nice to have friends.</p>
<p>Marius walks onto the Aurora as if he has always been there, he is confident, his spiked helm tucked beneath his arm, his mechanised arm. But he is a doctor and there has been a rather severe case of allergies on the Aurora for quite some time. Perhaps that is why they allow him to stay, or perhaps at some point, you realise how lonely it gets to be immortal. In any case, Brian advocates the strongest and when asked shows Marius to the labs.</p>
<p>The Baron, who is not a Baron, laughs at the strangest things when Jonny snarls something about the violin section Marius laughs. They don’t mention it, sometimes Jonny laughs and laughs and doesn’t stop till he asphyxiates or someone takes pity. Marius takes to Ashes' flaming drinks with a wide grin and introduces his own dish to the crew’s rotating menu, it involves lots of potatoes.</p>
<p>Sometimes, Marius will talk with Nastya late or early in the morning about expectations, and he will run his hand gently over the Aurora’s hull. Marius always says a word of thanks before eating, Brian is the first to notice and only tips his head in acknowledgement, but it’s Jonny who laughs and starts singing about thanking whatever Gods the crew might believe in before a meal when he’s in a good mood. The Toy Soldier occasionally borrows Marius’ helmet but he never minds as he always finds a few polished buttons afterwards.</p>
<p>Raphaellea steps out of Dr. Carmilla’s office with wings which trail soft downy feathers intricately woven of synthetic fibres. Nastya is the one to step cautiously forward as Tim herds Jonny away before he can enact another plan involving the airlock. In the end, Raphaellea fits in as if she’s always been there, as, for the most part, she stays in the laboratory only straying for practice and meals.</p>
<p>She floats through the Aurora’s hallways, sometimes she’ll look at the ceilings with a strange expression, a little twist of her lips. Ashes notices it and mentions it to Tim who talks to Nastya, who talks to Aurora. The hallways are taller in some parts of the ship after that.</p>
<p>Raphaellea has the tendency to steal shoes but just as often she’ll leave a sweater with two holes in the back over Brian’s chair, or by the engine room. They’re always appreciated. She doesn’t cook, but if she did, most of the crew probably wouldn’t eat it anyway. Sometimes Raphaellea slips onto the bridge with a new discovery and Brian will listen, he’ll ask questions and they don’t talk about their pasts together.</p>
<p>If the Aurora drops below a certain temperature it’ll be hard to find her, though Jonny, who basks like a salamander in the heat, is the first to find her bundled up in so many layers only the top of her head is visible. After that, they steal to the engine rooms which are always boiling.</p>
<p>No one is quite sure when Ivy appears on the Aurora, only one day Raphaellea stumbles on her in what serves as the library, filled with a scant few books on sewing, firearms, and more often mechanics. It is utterly overflowing and there is Ivy in the midst of it.</p>
<p>Ivy drinks in their stories and their songs and though she rarely shares little of her they all quickly learn of her love of knowledge, of books more particularly. Ashes makes the mistake of setting a book on fire in front of her once, it is not a mistake they make again.</p>
<p>Twice a day on occasion Ivy will disappear to the library, the Toy Soldier follows once and finds Ivy sitting alone her eyes closed and her hands crossed, the Toy Soldier joins her silently. Ivy doesn’t enter the kitchen often but when she does, she always leaves it a bit tidier than it was before.</p>
<p>They come with their own traditions and cultures, little rituals, habits, pieces of their pasts that are all they carry with them through hundreds of thousands of years. Sometimes though, sometimes they pick up a few things on the way.</p>
<p>There’s not much of a calendar in space but they celebrate holidays of sorts, there’s one that they all love, a feast day, Marius spends most of the day in the kitchen and afterwards, they play softly until everyone has fallen asleep. Nastya and a few others pick up on Jonny’s habit of leaving their shoes at the door and Tim has tripped on them more than a few times. Raphaellea thanks Ashes with a movement of her hand from her chest and Ashes grins for a long time afterwards.</p>
<p>They all bring a few games on deck, Jonny and Ashes are the worst at cards, and by worst, they’re fantastic at them. So logically, no one ever plays with them, the closest one might get is Go Fish which always ends with someone dead. But there are other games, there are stories told when they were children, long forgotten and reshaped into new stories, into new songs.</p>
<p>They practice together and after every practice, or at least the good ones, they’ll all have a drink, flames burning on the surface and on the way down. After a particularly bloody battle, Tim and the Toy Soldier make tea, and Tim will think of Bertie eyes trained on the mug and Jonny will stand beside him. Ivy and Raphaellea drag the crew to planets that are boring more often than not but chocked full of information and research, on those trips, Jonny will sew old favourite coats, rumpled uniforms, sometimes Nastya will sit quietly beside him and help.</p>
<p>They all speak Common, but sometimes, just sometimes, they’ll slip into their own languages, Jonny always curses, accent so thick it’s incomprehensible, Marius will laugh and insult the crew at the same time, they assume its insulting, Nastya only ever whispers a few words to the ship or the technology they encounter, Brian doesn’t say anything but he’ll sometimes write a few words down.</p>
<p>Over thousands of years a lot can slip through the cracks, but the important things, those remain, shoes left at the doorway, drinks early in the morning. They create new ones, new futures out of the old, but they don’t forget it. They share their traditions, their cultures, until it’s hard to tell where one begins and another ends.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed this, I had a lot of fun just exploring everyone's character. Comments are always super appreciated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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